Sunday, June 03, 2007

Texas: Personal data state held went missing

" ... The data was not encrypted but Goodman said it would have been extremely difficult for someone to access the 9 million records on the tapes without appropriate knowledge of the computer code. ... The quarterly report was being transferred from Northrop Grumman. ... The lead contractor is Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Services ... "

My San AntonioJanet Elliott, Austin Bureau05/07/2007

AUSTIN — Computer tapes from a state agency that contained millions of records with sensitive personal data, including Social Security numbers and wages, were missing for more than two weeks before being found Monday by a private vendor.

Though the information was not compromised, the situation exposed serious flaws in the way contractors handled the data. Officials with the Health and Human Services Commission weren't even notified the records were missing for more than a week after the box should have arrived at the vendor's office.

State officials promised to institute new procedures, including a way to track shipments handled by couriers.

"We want to be able to track those records at every point in the process," said Stephanie Goodman, an HHSC spokeswoman.

The data was not encrypted but Goodman said it would have been extremely difficult for someone to access the 9 million records on the tapes without appropriate knowledge of the computer code. Goodman said she did not know exactly how many individual Social Security numbers were in the records.

The quarterly report was being transferred from Northrop Grumman, which maintains the mainframe computers containing the work force data to the Texas Medicaid & Healthcare Partnership, a coalition of contractors that processes Medicaid claims. The lead contractor is Dallas-based Affiliated Computer Services.

Goodman said a courier service picked up the tapes April 18 in a mailroom of a state office building. The courier, MailMax, took the box to another state building where TMHP was supposed to pick it up, but the courier put the box in the wrong bin, Goodman said.

More than a week went by before TMHP realized the tapes hadn't arrived. The contractor notified state officials May 1, and two days later Health and Human Services alerted the inspector general's office.

But it was not until Monday, after the San Antonio Express-News began asking about the tapes, that they were found.

Goodman said TMHP had picked up the box from the state office Friday but didn't notify HHSC that they were found until Monday.

"We can call off the all-points bulletin," she said.

Kevin Lightfoot, an Affiliated Computer Services spokesman, said the company is examining its procedures and exploring the possibility that the data could be transferred electronically to improve security.

Krista Moody, a spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Perry, attributed the situation to "human error" and said that at no time was the data in jeopardy.

Rep. Abel Herrero, chairman of a House Human Services subcommittee that has been examining the performance of private contractors, said he hadn't heard about the missing tapes.

"This is yet another example of why the state needs to be sure we hold contractors and subcontractors to the utmost standards to make sure flaws are properly remedied and not repeated," the Robstown Democrat said.